Box-lifter



B. PLATEN & W. W. BENNETT.

BOX LIFTER.

No. 432,765. Patented July 22,1890.

WWW/Mm s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGO B. PLATEN AND lVlLLlAM \VESLEY BENNETT, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

BOX-LIFTER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 432,765, dated July 22,1890.

Application filed July 17,1889. Serial No. 317.818. (N model.)

To all whom, it may concern: shelf, the device may be turned, its edge01' Be it known that we, HUGO l3. PLATEN and back applied against thebox and sufficient lVILLIAM lVEsLEY BENNETT, citizens of the forceapplied to push the box back. So if United States, residing in Savannah,in the when the box is to be taken down it is found 5 county of Chatham,in the State of Georgia, to rest too far inward or back upon the shelf,

have invented a certain new and useful Imthe device may be applied inthe reversed poprovement in Box'liifters, of which the folsition, withits spur projecting idly forward, lowing is a full and exactdescription. so as to be of no effect, and in this position The objectof the invention is to provide the tip may be engaged under theoverhanglo convenient means for taking down and puting edge of the coverand the device drawn ting up boxes in stores and analogous situaforward,bringing the box forward with'it. tions without requiring a step-ladder.It is Now our device being reversed, the spur is intended moreespecially for past-eboard boxes brought to bear under the bottom, andin conof considerable depth and containing light cert with theengagement of the tip under (5 material, as ruffles, laces, and thelike; but the cover lifts the box and allows it to be it may be usedwith success for handling lowered or transported to any other shelf asboxes relatively shallow and heavily loaded. required. Our experimentshave been mainly with deep In what we esteem the most complete formboxes containing shoes. Itis important that of the invention we providefor easily shift- 20 the boxes have covers which overlap the ing theposition of what we have here called bodies and extend down alittle,afterthe usual the spur, meaning a short thin shelf eX- fashion ofpasteboard boxes. we provide a tending out at about right angles to therod, rod, of wood or other material, of sufficient shifting it upward toadapt it to serve with length and thickness and having one end shallowboxes and downward to adapt it to 25 flattened and adapted to be thrustupward serve with deep boxes. \Ve propose somefrom below into the spacebetween the box timesto make the upper end of the device and the cover.We equip such rod with a andthe spur entirely of metal, while the mainflat horizontal spur a sufficient distance berod is simply asquare-sectioned rod of wood. low the upper end. Supposing the boX ofWVe can furnish the metal parts ready to be 8o 30 shoes or otherarticles to lie with its front end applied on wooden rods of square orother or side flush with the edge of a high shelf on sections. which itrests, or, as is usually practiced, some- The accompanying drawings forma part of what overhanging such shelf, the operator dethisspecificationand represent several forms siring to take it down reaches up our devicein which the invention may be carried out. 8 5 3 5 and engages the flatupper end between the Figure 1 is an outline showing 011 a small coverand the body and engages the horiscale the manner of using our lifter inconzontal spur under the bottom of the body. nection witha set ofshelves. The remaining Now the rod being lifted and drawn forwardfigures are on a larger scale. Fig. 2 is a face brings the box, and itmay be lowered and view, and Fig. 3 an edge view, of the upper 9 odisengaged without difficulty, and when ready end of our lifter, andFig. 4 is a face View, it may be returned by a reversion of the op- Fig.5 an edge view, and Fig. 6 a cross-seceration. To disengage our deviceafter the tion on the line a: 00, of a modification. boX is again inplace on the shelf, the lower Similar letters of reference indicatecorreend of our rod is moved forward or away from sponding parts in allthe figures where they 5 the tier of shelves or is moved to one side, oroccur.

both these movements are combined, and the A is a flat rod of steel,having a row of holes upper end being by one or both these move a a anda socket A, the latter adapted to rements disengaged from its hold underthe ceive a rod of wood A with which it is seedge of the cover, thedevice is free. If the curely engaged by screws in an obvious man- 10c50 box is thus liberated with its front too much ner.

overhanging beyond the front edge of the B is a slide of iron or otherstrong material,

having lips B, which loosely embrace the edges of the rod A, withliberty to be moved up and down thereon.

D is a bell-crank lever hinged to the slide 13, its lower arm D having atip which'is turned squarely inward and adapted to engage in any one ofthe holes in the series a.

, The upper arm of this lever (marked D serves as the spur abovereferred to, being, by its form and position when adjusted for use,adapted to be thrust under the body of a box and to support itvertically, while the top of the rod A stands just within the cover andholds the box against-being tilted. The two together hold the boxstiiily by one edge and allow it to be lifted and drawn out from itsplace on a shelf and lowered and raised as required.

To engage our device with a box, the top is thrust up into the narrowspace between the hanging rim of the cover and the top of the box-body.If the joint is not sufficien tly open, the material of the body or ofthe cover, orof both, can always yield to make room for the thin flattop of the rod A, and the spur D is thrust under the box-body, betweensuch body and the shelf on which it rests. In case the box. overhangsbeyond the front edge of the shelf this spur is set in position withouteffort. In any case it is not difficult. Now the box is lifted, drawnforward, lowered, disengaged, opened, and used as required, and when itis to be replaced it is returned to the shelf by a reversion of themovements.

To adapt the device to handle deeper boxes it is important to lower thespurD relatively to the rod A. This is done at pleasure by simplyturning the bell-crank lever D by raising the spur D so much as willdetach the arm D from its hole 0. Then the slide B and its attachedlever D may be lowered, and the bent end of the arm 1) is engaged in thenext lower hole a, or in any of the holes a which may be preferred,correspondingly changing the height at which the spur D stands adjustedon the rod A. The adjustment is easy and instantaneous.

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show a modification in which there is less metal. Inthis a rod of ash or other suitable wood is provided of sufficientlength with its upper end tapered wedgewise. One of the faces of thiswedge part is faced wit-h an iron plate which is wider than the rod andprojects on each side. This plate is folded upon itself and extends overthe top and down the back and is secured by rivets or screws. The frontpart being wider than the rod presents its edges to serve as means forengaging with the slide. The slide may be held by any other efiicientmeans.

The box to be lifted by our device is marked M. The shelf is marked G,and the boxcover M.

Further modifications may be made without departing from the principleor sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

We propose to prepare the metal parts as an 4 article of trade adaptedfor convenient shipment and allow the purchaser to add as long or shorta pole .or rod A as maybe required for the special situation in which itis to be used. Obviously the rod A may be made in lengths appliedtogether, like the sections of a fishin g-pole, and thus shipped withthe metal parts, if preferred. It is well to locate the holes a a toexactly match the several depths of the usual sizes of boxes; but thisis not material.

Two or more boxes lying one upon another maybe taken down or put uptogether by applying our device to the lowest.

lrVe claim as our invention 1. The thin-ended rod A, combined with aslide B, sleeved on said rod, and a.bell-crank lever D, carried by thesaid slide, with its lower end constructed to engage holding means ofthe rod, substantially as specified.

2. The thin -ended rod A, apertured, as shown, combined with the slideB, sleeved on said rod, and a bell-crank lever fulcrumed at its elbow onsaid slide, with the end of its lower arm bent square inward andconstructed to engage the apertures in the rod A, substantially as shownand described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, at Savannah,Georgia, this 12th day of June, 1889, in the presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

HUGO B. PLATEN. WILLIAM wEsLEY BENNETT.

Witnesses:

H. F. lVIOLINA, EMILE A. GRADO'II.

